The Phantom (Charlton Comics) #70 and #74 (April 1976; January 1977)

I read the Phantom strip every day in the funnies, and particularly enjoyed the episodes about in which one of his ancestors would take center stage. IIRC, quite often it was one of the “Pirate-Era” Phantoms, maybe the first of them all, who’d be spotlighted in those stories. Thus, it’s fitting that two of my favorite Phantoms are also set in the past.

I rarely saw any of the Phantom’s comic book incarnations on the stands, but when I did, I snatched them up. I’ll always be grateful that of the very few I found, these two issues were among them. Two superb adaptations.

The first was a labor of love for writer Bill Pearson and artist Don Newton in which they incorporated elements of several movies, primarily The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca into a story of the Phantom of the 1930s (with a cameo by the Phantom of the 1880s). This wasn’t just a nod to those films, but a full appreciation of them and of their times, historical and cinematic. (Hey, when you include a dead-on version of S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, one of the greatest of character actors, you’re doing more than nodding to Casablanca, you’re immersing yourself and your readers in it.)

A kudos to Pearson – what ever became of him? – for letting his love for and knowledge of the movies shine through.

And Don Newton was never better, despite the notoriously lousy Charlton printing, which left every page looking as if it had been slathered by a roller covered with black ink.



Phantom 74 was a complete Newton production. Somehow the printing improved or perhaps Newton figured out how to make his work survive the vagaries of that plant in Derby, CT. It’s a great story featuring the Phantom of 1776 (It was the Bicentennial, doncha know?) meeting Ben Franklin as the Declaration is about to be signed. The Phantom is on a mission to rescue a chief’s son captured by slavers. I don’t think you’ll ever read a better illustrated story, whether you care for Newton’s art or not. He really outdoes himself here on what could have been a throwaway looking for a little Bicentennial attention, as so many other comics published that year did. No gimmickry here, though, and a serious story, to boot.



You have to love it when Franklin advises the Phantom that he cannot hope to free all the slaves in the new nation, as his instincts demand him to do. The Phantom pierces Franklin with his gaze and says, “You ask much of me. Do you expect me to desert the others because I might face danger? It is not my way.”(p. 20)

Both stories were unexpected moments when the planets aligned and a couple of craftsmen – artists – threw themselves into what might have been just work for pay for others and instead illuminated their character and two unique times in history as well as could be done.

And for Charlton, more’s the pity.

Speaking of public domain comics posted online, you might also want to visit the Digital Comics Museum - there's a lot of overlap with Comic Book+ (including those Frankenstein books), but also some stuff the latter doesn't have. Worth checking out in any case.

That Devil looks awesome!!!

Day 6


Elvira

Claypool, 1993-2007





A few publishers have tried to do something with the Elvira character over the years. (I'd sure like to do something with her. . .) But for my money, nobody captured the cheesy humor, the bawdy suggestiveness, the attitude of the character better than Claypool. This series gave the character a setting, a cast of supporting characters, and used them as the framework for 166 issues of ridiculous, satirical, self-mocking fun.